Mountains of black trash bags have gone uncollected for over two weeks in areas like Barrio Colón and Balboa, while the collection service continues to be charged as if nothing happened. During an official tour, Mayor Eloy Chong personally witnessed the accumulation of waste, even though Veolia Panamá had established specific schedules and days for collection, which—according to the municipality—are not being met. Residents of the affected areas confirmed that the company does not collect trash on the two promised days, yet it continues to bill for the service. The official recalled that so far this year, Veolia Panamá has been fined nine times for service failures and citizen complaints. Meanwhile, the trash keeps piling up day after day, and residents hope that this time the warnings won't be just empty words. The situation has gotten so bad that a resident of Barrio Colón warned she might consider burning the waste, while others expressed fear of a possible epidemic due to the lack of collection. Due to the non-compliance, Mayor Chong announced that he has ordered the Municipal Intervention Board to issue a warning to the company, a step prior to imposing new fines. The patience of residents in La Chorrera, in Western Panama, is running out.
